First things first, you need to establish who you are, so you don't have people looking at you and trying to kick you out, and so you can have court side access at sporting events. In school, the staff all knew me and it wasn't a big deal but for everyone else in yearbook on the photography team (including my self) I made up badges that say "Yearbook Photographer" and then their name, that might be a bit overkill if you a parent but if your in a media club like SnS it would be a very good idea.

Next is scouting, when pros shoot anything they always scout first and have a general plan, where will we shoot? what are the good angles? and so on. Say its in a gym, go look around, talk to who's organizing it, know where people will be sitting and further formulate your plan from there always running it by some one to make sure its okay.
Court side shot One bit of advice I wish I had is use a flash and if you have one it would be better to use an off camera or a more powerful, the flash on your camera has a very limited range.

"Bumper Image" when at events take pictures of whats in the event pamphlets, signs, sporting equipment, as well as scenery. The images might be used in making signs or advertisements or just as fill images in yearbooks, newsletters and such.

Artsy photos Take photos from odd angles and with odd composure. These photos can be used much the same was as "bumper" images can.
Bring a tripod You might think you won't use your tripod but put your camera on it extend the legs all the way out close them up, put the self timer on or if you have a shutter release then hold it up and take the photo, you can get neat angles, and get overhead shots.

Lastly, don't take photos like this:
NO ONE likes these, you can't tell who people are it looks really stupid and lastly it looks stupid . If you need to shoot a group set them up, your the photographer, and they want their picture taken they'll do what you say.

I hope you've found this kind of helpful at least. I also wish you the best of luck shooting your next event.

_________________Jake O'Connell, 40D CrewCanon EOS 40D | 28-135mm IS | 50mm f/1.8 |Vivitar DF 383 | Vivitar 285hvMy Flickrmy Blog"Photography isn't so much about the results as it is the collective experience, your interactions with people and with the world"

Cool thanks!
I am a school photographer as well! and I would also like to extend some other tips and advice that I have learned from experience:

1. Don't Count 1-2-3
If I say ready, look up and click! I got much more interesting shots. Also I try to get people laughing and getting a conversation then shoot as they talk.

2. For basketball and other sports
Use panning method Period.

3. Have fast glass and bounce flash

4. When photographing during classroom time, turn off AF assist, and beep

5. To remove the crowded people background, I ask the main subjects to hold very still and "drag the shutter" at around 1/60 of a second with IS, this has a cool effect were everyone else is blurry but your two subjects.

People at my school behave like <insert vulgarity of your choice here> and the last thing they want is their face to appear in a photo. (Except some egoists who block the whole lens with their face and a Victory sign)

Also I havent covered sports events with a digital STILL camera but I dont think its a very good idea to make them blink with a flash gun(or any flash accessory).
Once when I was videoing(we dont do this any more) i didnt really do much but pan.

And if I take the bumper images like that basketball my senior would probably call me slang term for "nothing-better-to-do" and hit the Dustbin icon

This is a good guide nevertheless but a bit short in terms of text. (A picture does not tell a thousand words in a photography guide :S)

Always be prepared. It doesn't matter what camera equipment you have, but if you have thought through what you're going to be taking, then the likelihood is that you will pick up some good images.

As student photographers, you will be learning, (and the same applies to professionals - no one knows everything) so it's a case of trial and error. Take as many shots as possible from as many different viewpoints and see what works for you and develop your own styles from there.

Just from looking at your shots, JakeOConnell, I get the impression you tend to shoot far too much at eye level. Why not try shooting from the hip or from the ground? For example your second photo of the basketball could have been taken from the ground with the gym as a backdrop instead of just the floor. You can also play with the depth of field in the third photo - there's not much of a focal point in that frame.

There's no right or wrong in photography, but there are ways to produce stronger images that "work".

PhotoJ, I agree with you 100%, different angles and less depth of field especially in #3 and I'm not sure if I mentioned it I took that with a Sony Mavicia its a ... 3mp if not 2mp camera that uses floppy's as memory and shoots 640x480! None the less I'm sure it was a great camera when it was new. And for the one of the basket ball, probably wasn't even thinking, I was using the camcorder at the same time, but agree a lying down looking up type of shot, they are the best ones.

_________________Jake O'Connell, 40D CrewCanon EOS 40D | 28-135mm IS | 50mm f/1.8 |Vivitar DF 383 | Vivitar 285hvMy Flickrmy Blog"Photography isn't so much about the results as it is the collective experience, your interactions with people and with the world"

I've just had my first experience with school photography today.
My goodness. If I had a penny for every time I heard "Take a picture of me!" or even better: "I don't want to be in no picture!!"
I wasn't allowed to take pictures of faces due to legalities. This was tough as I was also meant to try and get pictures of the children working. Tiring stuff